Miracles Do Happen
by CrazyApplesandOranges
Summary: When Tsunade finds a young four-year-old Minato in the street, she takes him in, at least until she can talk to Sarutobi. But it seems there's a reason no one knew who Minato was.
1. Chapter 1

Four-year-old Minato Namikaze crouched in an alleyway, clothes ripped and stomach growling. He was shivering, normally bright blonde hair dark with dirt and blue eyes dull with hunger and exhaustion. He wrapped his arms around himself, eyes searching for something, anything, edible.

Minato whimpered, pulling the only thing he owned besides his clothes closer to him. The tiny puppy had dark fur, made even darker by the dirt, and Minato could almost count all her ribs. The puppy nosed his pants pocket for food, and when she didn't find any, she licked her young master's hand, signaling that she had forgiven him, even though she was hungry.

"I'm sorry, Kaminari," the young blonde whispered. "I'm sorry that I don't have any food for you."

Tsunade wandered the village, tugging her coat closed to ward off the wind. She stopped abruptly when she heard a soft sound, and she turned her head to stare into the alley next to her. She saw a small boy there, with a tiny black puppy next to him. The soft sound she had heard was the dog whining as her owner cradled her in his arms.

Tsunade strode over to them, crouching in front of the young child. "Hi," she greeted quietly. The boy looked up and cowered into the wall when he saw her. "I don't want to hurt you," she assured him. "I want to help. What's your name?"

"M-Minato Namikaze," he stammered, clutching the puppy closer to his chest.

"I'm Tsunade," the older blonde said, smiling gently. Minato stared at her with wide eyes, not believing that someone was actually talking to him. When his parents died, he was forgotten; he was so quiet that no one remembered Hiroki and Kohaku Namikaze even had a son. He had taken care of himself the past couple weeks.

"Where are your parents?" Tsunade asked. Minato gazed at her with unreadable blue eyes.

"They're dead." He said quietly.

She started; if this kid was an orphan, Sarutobi should have made suitable arrangements for him. So why hadn't he?

_Well, I can't leave him here_, she decided.

"Come on," she whispered softly. "You can come home with me."

The young child allowed himself to be picked up, but Minato whined when the puppy wasn't picked up also. So Tsunade picked the puppy up.

Tsunade adjusted her jacket so that it covered both Minato and the dog. It wasn't much, but it was the most she could do until she got to her apartment.

She hurried through the busy streets, dodging civilians on their way home from the store. Tsunade groaned quietly when she realized that she needed a hand free to unlock her apartment door.

She glanced down at Minato, who was fast asleep, and then the puppy, who was squirming in her arms. She set the dog down and unlocked the door, ushering the little dog inside.

"Minato," she whispered, shifting the child's weight in her arms. "Minato, you have to get up."

Minato opened his eyes tiredly, whining at the sudden loss of warmth when Tsunade set him down on the couch. The medic-nin covered him with a blanket.

"You can get some sleep now, but I need to give you a bath later. And you need some food." Tsunade said. She stood up and was about to leave when Minato's voice stopped her.

"Can I have some food now?" he asked.

"Sure. What would you like?" Tsunade questioned.

"Can I have some ramen?"

"Sure thing, Minato." Tsunade said. "I'll go see what I have."

As she left the room, Tsunade smiled to herself. Maybe taking care of this kid until she could talk to Sarutobi wouldn't be so bad after all.

A/N: Okay, so I was writing one of my other stories when this popped into my head. I loved this idea—mostly because little Minato is so cute—and I decided to write it. Besides, we don't actually know who raised Minato, so I imagine it to be Tsunade or Jiraiya.

Anyways, I picked Minato's parent's names based on their meanings. Hiroki means vast timber trees, which I think fits because they live in the Leaf Village, and Kohaku means amber. I imagine his mother as having a sort of blondish-brownish hair color, so I think that fits her.


	2. Chapter 2

Tsunade smiled to herself as she watched Minato play with his puppy. After she had given them both baths, they looked much better. Kaminari—as she learned was the dog's name— was a Border Collie, and actually had a rich, dark black fur color. She had a white underbelly, and that was where Minato had gotten the name. It reminded him of thunder. Tsunade didn't think so.

Minato, instead of having had dark blonde hair, had inherited his father's bright blonde hair and his mother's beautiful blue eyes. He really was a sweet kid when you got to know him, just like his mother was. Although, even though Tsunade had known the Namikaze's well, she hadn't known that they had a child. She had been out of the village with Jiraiya on a mission for the last couple of years; she had gotten back just in time to attend their funeral.

However, when she thought really hard about it, the medic-nin did remember something about the night before she had left with Jiraiya.

"_Kohaku," Tsunade said with a smile. "You didn't have to do this." _

_Kohaku Namikaze turned to her best friend and grinned, shaking her head with a smile. "Of course I have too, Tsunade. You're my friend, and I'm not going to see you for almost two years!"_

_Hiroki stepped next to his wife with a smirk, rolling his eyes. "Yes, but Kohaku, you know that we have to do other things tonight."_

_For a brief moment, Kohaku's face darkened, but it disappeared within seconds, and Tsunade almost thought she had imagined it. "You're right, dear, but that can wait."_

_Tsunade's amber-colored eyes flicked around the room randomly, lighting upon a small child peeking around the doorway. She cocked her head to the side curiously, staring at the little boy, but before she could ask, he had vanished, leaving the medic-nin to wonder if it had been her imagination._

_Because the last time she had checked, the Namikaze's did not have a child._

Apparently she had been wrong. Kohaku must have had Minato when she had been on that one mission in the Land of Waves—or Land of the Whirlpool, depending on who you talked to. Tsunade didn't know why Kohaku, her best friend, had kept this a secret, and why no one had helped Minato.

Does anyone even know of Minato? She thought to herself as she watched the young child run through her small apartment. But she banished the thought as Kaminari jumped up into her lap, wagging her tail and panting.

"Hey, girl," she murmured, scratching behind the puppy's ear.

She sighed, standing up and cradling the dog in her arms. "Come on, Minato. We have to go." She called to the younger blonde. Kaminari barked in her arms.

"Coming, 'Nade!" Minato shouted, zipping past her so fast he was almost a blur. Tsunade blinked, then found the piece of rope that was serving as Kaminari's leash. She looped it around the dog's neck loosely, and then pulled her jacket on.

"Minato! Where'd you go?"

"I'm right here, silly," Minato said from behind her. She jumped and whipped around. When had he moved behind her?

"Come on," she said. "The Hokage's waiting for us."

She led the blonde out the door, the dog trailing along behind, sniffing at the ground.

/\/

The Third Hokage was waiting for his former student, but he was not expecting to see the young child holding Tsunade's hand.

"Sarutobi-sensei, what do you have to say about this?" Tsunade demanded, pointing to Minato.

Sarutobi shrugged, gazing down at the small blonde. "I don't know who this is. Satisfied?"

"No. Sensei, I respect you and all, but Minato was out in the streets for two weeks before I found him!" Tsunade shrieked, barely restraining herself from cussing her sensei out. That was not something Minato had to see.

Sarutobi crouched down in front of Minato, who clutched Tsunade's hand like a lifeline. "Hello, I'm Sarutobi. What's your name?" he said kindly.

"Minato Namikaze," he said after glancing up at Tsunade for permission. The Hokage's eyebrows went up a fraction, but he recovered himself.

"Where are your parents?"

"They're dead."

That confirmed Sarutobi's fears. He stood up, moving back over to his desk. "Tsunade," he said. "Where did you find this child?"

"In an alley," Tsunade frowned. "Why?"

"I have a bad feeling about this." The Hokage muttered. "Tsunade, did you know that Kohaku had a child?"

"No, not until I found Minato," she said. "Although…"

She told Sarutobi about the night before she left, and Sarutobi frowned. "Tsunade, if I had known that Minato was alive, I would have helped, trust me. But his parents kept him a secret. They didn't want us to know about him for some reason."

"So what should we do with him?" Tsunade asked, bending to pick Minato up. The boy had started to saga against her leg, eyelids drooping. She adjusted his body so that he could rest his head against her shoulder.

Sarutobi rubbed his cheek, glancing up at the ceiling. "I guess for now, all we can do is take care of him. We don't know what the Namikaze's were doing, and until we find that out you're in charge of him. You might even become his adopted mother, depending on what we find. You're okay with that, right?"

Tsunade smiled down at Minato, sound asleep from his hard day of playing with Kaminari. "Yeah. I'm completely fine with that."

A/N: Okay! A little more background on Tsunade and Kohaku. More to come soon (if you review. Please!).


	3. Chapter 3

Tsunade bent down and picked up one of Minato's many toys, dropping it in the bin. It had been nearly two weeks since she had talked to Sarutobi, and she had thought long and hard about something; something that could change both her and Minato's lives.

"Minato! Dinner time!" she called, moving into the kitchen. Kaminari pranced around her feet, panting and wagging her tail. "You'll get your dinner in a minute." Tsunade told the dog.

Minato came skidding into the kitchen, hopping up into his chair. "I'm here!" he announced. "What's for dinner, 'Nade?"

Tsunade chuckled and placed a bowl in front of the young blonde. "My homemade ramen."

Minato smiled and happily dug into the food. 'Nade's ramen was the best ramen ever, he had decided the first time he had it. But he had to savor every bite of it, because she didn't make it often.

'Nade was nicer to him then his own parents had been. She made sure he had enough food, water. She gave him and Kaminari baths, instead of Minato having to do it himself. Plus, she gave him toys, whereas his parents had given him books and said to occupy himself.

Because Minato couldn't read, he was very bored all day.

Once, Minato had almost slipped and called 'Nade 'Mom'. He corrected himself, but he was pretty sure she noticed. It was impossible to tell for sure, but he thought she did.

Kaminari was much happier here, also. She was more playful, like a Border collie should be, unlike when she was stuck in Minato's room all day with him. She didn't have anywhere to run or play in that cramped room.

"Minato," 'Nade said, breaking him from his thoughts on how different she was from her parents. "You don't have to answer this question, but I was good friends with your parents. I'm just wondering why they didn't want anyone to know about you."

Minato gazed down into his bowl, stirring his chopsticks through the soup. "I don't know why. I just know that they seemed to hate me. I'm almost glad they're dead."

Tsunade stifled a gasp and bit her lip. "And why is that?"

When he looked up at her, his blue eyes had the same look in them as that first time she had met him in the alley. "Because they treated me like I was an afterthought. They didn't take care of me like you do, 'Nade. I had to do almost everything myself."

Tsunade almost wouldn't believe the four-year-old if it wasn't for the fact that she knew Minato wouldn't lie to her. This just didn't sound like her best friend.

"Minato," she said gently, bracing herself just in case he said no. "You don't have to answer right away, you can think about it, but…would you like to live with me permanently?"

Minato stared at her for a moment, seemingly thinking about her offer, before his face split into such a wide grin that Tsunade would have worried that his face would break apart if she hadn't been a medic-nin.

"Yes! I would love to live you!" He launched forward and hugged her tightly, making himself comfortable in her lap. She chuckled and hugged him back.

"We can be a real family, not what you had with your parents," she told him as she reached across the table to retrieve his bowl of ramen. It didn't look like Minato was going anywhere soon.

"So…you'll be my mommy?" he asked timidly. Kaminari barked from the floor, looking up from her bowl of puppy food to stare at the two blondes.

"Yes. I'll be your mommy." Tsunade answered.

/\/\

Tsunade stood in front of the Hokage again, this time with Minato on her hips instead of standing next to her.

"Sarutobi-sensei," she said. "I would like to make a request."

"Yes, Tsunade?" Sarutobi asked.

"I would like to adopt Minato."

Sarutobi stared at his only female student in shock. He had never thought that he would ever hear those words out of her mouth, especially with what happened to Dan and Nawaki.

"Are you sure?" he asked worriedly.

"Yes." She said, gazing down at the child in her arms. "I'm one-hundred-percent sure."

"Well, okay. If you're sure." The Hokage reached into a drawer in his desk and pulled out a packet of papers. "Fill out these adoption papers and return them to me. Once you've done that, you'll be his legal mother."

Tsunade smiled and accepted the packet, walking out of the room when he dismissed her.

She walked down the street back to her apartment quietly, until Minato spoke up.

"What's an adoption?" he asked.

"Well…" she answered. "Let's just say that when I finish these papers, I'll be your real mommy."

"Really? Can you finish them really fast?" he asked excitedly.

Tsunade chuckled. "I need a pen to write down everything first, Minato."

"Oh." He pouted.

"Hey, Tsunade!" someone called out to her. She froze, not believing that _he_ was here, _in Konoha_.

A man appeared in front of her, smiling widely. His white hair was tied back in the usual pony, and the red lines running down his face were the same as ever. Besides the fact that he seemed even more annoying, he hadn't changed at all since the last time she saw him.

"I'm back," Jiraiya said proudly, looking at his teammate smugly.

A/N: Dun dun dun. Jiraiya is here! Tsunade's adopting Minato! Jeez, I kinda feel bad for the amount of drama that's going to be mauling this story shortly. Oh well. I guess I got to write it somewhere, and here's as good a place as anywhere.


	4. Chapter 4

"What are you doing here?" Tsunade hissed, trying to get past her teammate. Jiraiya smirked and blocked her, but his attention was on Minato.

"Who's the kid?" he asked, nodding towards the young blonde. Tsunade tightened her grip on Minato protectively, glaring at the perverted man.

"Why do you need to know?" she snapped.

"Because I'm your teammate. I deserve to know these things." Jiraiya nodded to himself, agreeing with what he had said.

"I've decided you do not need to know who this child is. If I told you, you might brainwash him or something. I don't need that happening to him." Tsunade turned on her heel, braced herself against the abnormally cold wind, and took a step forward when Minato's voice made her freeze.

"Mommy, who is that man?"

Huh. She liked the sound of that. It made her feel happy; like she was sure most parents would feel like when their child says their first word. She smiled softly, then sighed when she heard the telltale sound of Jiraiya falling to the ground, unconscious.

"That, Minato," she said, turning around to stare at the twitching form of her teammate. "Is probably, in a way, your uncle."

"Is he like your sibling?" Minato asked, cuddling closer to the warmth of Tsunade's body.

Tsunade snorted. "You could call him my way too immature, much too perverted, abnormally white-haired younger brother. If you wanted to. But technically, no, Minato, we are not siblings."

"Oh." Minato cocked his head to the side curiously, wondering what the big man was doing on the ground. "Mommy, do you hate him?"

"Hate him?" Tsunade chuckled. "I don't hate him, but he definitely gets on my nerves."

Tsunade sighed again, dropping to one knee and letting Minato stand next to her. "Jiraiya," she said loudly. She smacked his cheek. "Wake up. I could leave you here, where you'll probably freeze to death."

Jiraiya opened his eyes and groaned, sitting up and holding his head. "What happened?"

Tsunade grinned, pulling Minato closer to him. "You passed out when you heard that I had a son."

Jiraiya's already blurry vision became even fuzzier, and he groaned loudly. He shook his head and blinked hard, forcing himself to focus on the child in front of him.

"He's not mine, right?"

Tsunade hit his arm, and he whined. "When have I ever been with you? No, he's not yours. Technically, he's not mine either. At least, not until I finish the adoption…papers…" Tsunade trailed off, clenching her fist, where the papers had been crumpled in her palm. Where they had given her a shallow paper cut, and where they weren't _there_.

Tsunade held back a curse, twisting around to look everywhere for those papers. "Minato," she said. "Did you happen to see where those papers went?"

The four-year-old shook his head. "Sorry, Mommy."

She smiled sweetly at him. "Would you mind going back to the Hokage and asking for another set of papers?"

Minato nodded, already running as fast as he could back to Sarutobi's office.

"If you're adopting him, then who are his parents?" Jiraiya asked, finally able to sit upright and not be dizzy.

"You know Hiroki and Kohaku Namikaze?" Tsunade stated, gazing after the young blonde sadly.

"Yes."

"He was theirs."

/\/\

Tsunade smiled as she finally finished the new set of adoption papers, setting them to the side. She could hear Minato laughing as Jiraiya played with him and Kaminari. She didn't know what he was doing out there, but she hoped that it wasn't perverted.

She stretched, trudging into the living room of her apartment, where Jiraiya was sprawled out on the floor, pretending to be dead, she assumed.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Shhh, Mommy! Uncle Jiraiya's playing dead!" Minato exclaimed frantically, watching as 'Uncle Jiraiya' lunged upward dramatically, one hand on his chest and the other outstretched towards Minato.

"What are you talking about? Nothing can kill this man." Jiraiya said, smiling as he tickled Minato. The little boy giggled harshly, arms and legs flailing around as he tried to escape.

When Jiraiya finally stopped, Tsunade had to hold back a few chuckles herself. "Bed time, Minato." She said, picking him up. Minato's arms automatically went around her neck, and she moved towards the door.

"Say goodnight to Uncle Jiraiya." Tsunade coaxed.

"Night, Uncle Jiraiya!" Minato said.

Tsunade placed a half-asleep Minato on the bed, picking up his pajamas off the floor. She stripped him of his dirty clothes and dropped them on the chair, helping him into the pajamas.

"Night, Minato." She said softly, kissing his forehead.

"Night, Mommy." He yawned. Minato curled up under the covers, sighing happily.

Tsunade closed the door quietly behind her, walking back into the living room to sit on the couch next to Jiraiya.

They were silent for a long time, until Jiraiya spoke up. "Why didn't we know about him?"

"Because his parents kept him a secret." Tsunade answered.

"Why?"

"Does it look like I know why my best friend would keep her four-year-old son a secret?" Tsunade asked sarcastically. She took a deep breath, calming herself down. "I don't know why, Jiraiya. All I know is that three weeks ago, his parents died, and I found him a week ago in an alley, dirty, hungry, with only a puppy for company."

Silence filled the room, and Tsunade finally sighed. "Jiraiya, why are you back here?"

"I need to talk to the Hokage." He said.

"Why?"

"If I could tell you, I would, Tsunade, trust me. But I don't know if this should be public knowledge yet."

"And since when am I a part of the public?" Tsunade asked.

"Tsunade, don't be offended, but I just don't think you should know."

"Jiraiya, why should I now know this?"

Jiraiya sighed, but he had never been able to resist her; mostly because she usually ended up beating him to a pulp. "Because it has something to do with Minato's parents."

A/N: I'M SORRY! I really hate leaving you with cliffhangers, really I do, but I couldn't come up with any way to continue this without giving away anything that I wanted to reveal in the next chapter. Sorry!


	5. Chapter 5

Tsunade tossed and turned all night long, Jiraiya's words ringing through her head. No matter how hard she tried, she could not get to sleep, and she was getting frustrated.

She sat up, letting the covers fall to her lap, and stared at the door. Maybe a drink of water would help…

Tsunade stood up and opened the door, slipping out into the darkness. The kitchen light was on, providing Jiraiya with enough light to see by should he need it.

The medic-nin found a glass and filled it with water, gulping it down and leaning against the counter. Now that she was up, she didn't really want to get back in bed…

Jiraiya was snoring on the couch, Minato was fast asleep in his room, and who knows where Kaminari was sleeping. Tsunade was the only one who wasn't asleep.

A tortured scream rang through the apartment, and Tsunade dropped her glass in her haste to get to Minato. She skirted the broken glass, racing down the hallway to his bedroom.

Minato was curled up under the covers, shaking and sobbing. Tsunade hurried forward and pulled him into her lap, murmuring softly in his ear.

"It's okay honey, you're okay," she whispered. Jiraiya appeared in the doorway, rubbing his eyes and looking tired, but alert.

"What's wrong?" he yawned.

"I don't know." Tsunade said. "I think he had a nightmare."

She rocked Minato back and forth, frantically trying to come up with anything that would calm the young blond down. Minato clutched her shirt and sobbed, thin body shaking with fear.

"You're okay," Tsunade repeated. It was the only thing she could right now.

She rested her chin on top of Minato's head as the four-year-old's tears slowed, until he was only shaking from whatever his dream had been about.

"You're okay, honey," Tsunade whispered one last time as Minato lifted his head. "Nothing bad is going to happen to you."

"Mommy?" Minato whimpered. Tsunade rested her chin on top of his head.

"Yes?"

"They're not coming back, right?"

Tsunade shared a glance with Jiraiya, who looked as baffled as she felt.

"Who isn't, Minato?" she asked gently. Minato looked at her.

"Mama and Papa," he whispered. Tsunade stared up at Jiraiya. The tall man stepped closer to the bed and crouched next to his teammate.

"What do you mean, Minato?" he asked. Minato sniffled.

"T-they won't come back for me and hurt me, will they?"

"Oh, honey," Tsunade murmured. "No, no they're not coming back. Nothing can hurt you as long as we're around."

"Promise?" Minato whimpered. She nodded, pulling him closer.

"I promise."

/\/\

"Jiraiya you had better tell me what you know about Kohaku and Hiroki, or am I going to hurt you so badly!" Tsunade hissed in the living room, glaring at the white-haired man in front of her. Jiraiya glanced side to side before sighing and sitting down on the couch.

"Okay," he muttered. "But you can't tell Sarutobi-sensei that I told you, alright?"

"Fine." Tsunade agreed, sitting down next to her teammate.

"Kohaku and Hiroki kept Minato a secret because they didn't want anybody to know about him. You already know that." Jiraiya said. "The real question is why? Why would they do that when he's their own son? The answer is that Minato was an accident."

"That doesn't make any sense." Tsunade said.

"It will if you let me finish!" Jiraiya exclaimed quietly. "Anyways, Minato was never meant to be born. His parents were supposed to go on and live in relative happiness, without a kid. They didn't want another mouth to feed, wasted money spent on a child they didn't want."

"So…why didn't they put him up for adoption?"

"They were going to, but the day they had chosen to drop him off at the adoption center was the day Kohaku's mother died. She couldn't bear to leave her father that day, so Hiroki stayed at home with Minato while Kohaku stayed with her father for a couple days. By the time she came back, it was too late to go to the adoption center because it had been through a bad fire.

"So they kept Minato, raising him horribly. They fed him as little as they could without killing him and clothed him in fabric from ripped uniforms. Instead of toys Minato got books that he couldn't read, and the only joy in his life was Kaminari, who he got as a 'present' last year."

"So basically they abused him." Tsunade stated.

"Pretty much. They never truly hurt him, but they were being horrible parents, and that's a crime anyways. They never told anyone for fear of being arrested, and no one found out that he existed until you found him." Jiraiya finished.

"How could anyone be that cruel to their own child?" Tsunade wondered sadly. Jiraiya shook his head.

"I have no idea. But the point is that Minato has a home now, and as long as you treat him with the love and care he deserves, especially after all he's been through, everything should be fine."

"How did you find out about this anyways?" Tsunade asked.

"I have my sources."

Tsunade rolled her eyes and stared at the hallway leading to Minato's bedroom, where he was sleeping after finally calming down. How could anyone have possibly hurt him?

A/N: Okay, so yeah, this definitely isn't the best chapter, that's for sure. I had a lot of trouble with this chapter, and I hope that the explanation makes sense to you, because I didn't really understand it. Review if you feel like, but I'm honestly not expecting anything.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: TIME SKIP! Now it's Minato's first day at the Academy. I'll recap what happened in the years in between through the upcoming chapters. Yay!

Tsunade smiled sadly as Minato waved one last time before bounding forward into the Academy. She glanced back at her teammate as she forced herself to turn away from the building.

"Hey, Jiraiya," she said. Jiraiya hummed, busy scribbling something into his notebook. "Why do you stay?"

He stared at her, his writing forgotten. "What?"

"Why do you stay?" she repeated. "You have stayed with me for the past three years, when you could have left at any time. Why didn't you?"

Jiraiya thought for a long time, walking beside her. The blonde waited patiently for his answer, kicking a rock along the road.

"Because Minato is like my son," he finally said quietly. She stiffened with surprise before smiling.

"That's good," she said. She tilted her head to the side, her bangs falling into her hazel eyes. "Minato thinks of you as his father."

He grinned back at her and they wandered aimlessly around the village with an ease they hadn't known since Orochimaru left.

/\/\

Minato claimed his seat in the back of the classroom. There were several other people here who had empty seats, but he didn't know any of them and he was never the best at making friends.

He busied himself with doodling in his new notebook, humming to himself. _I wonder what Mommy will make for dinner tonight… _he thought_._ He glanced up sharply as a pile of books was plopped on the table next to him.

"Hi!" a redhead said brightly, sitting down next to Minato. He blinked. Who was this girl? "I'm Kushina. New here."

"Aren't we all?" Minato said, cocking his head to the side. The girl laughed.

"I meant new to the village," she corrected, brushing her hair out of her face. Minato stared at the bright red strands she had missed then shook his head as he tried to concentrate on the conversation.

"I'm Minato," he said. "Where are you from?"

Her face darkened slightly. "Land of Whirlpools. My parents sent me here to escape the wars destroying the land, I think."

Minato tilted his head respectfully. "I'm sorry."

Kushina's smile was back. "It's no problem! So far I like it here!"

Minato smiled back. "So what's it like in the Land—"

Their new sensei interrupted their conversation. "Hello, class," the Chuunin said. "My name is Aki Funaki; you can call me Aki-sensei."

Minato forced his eyes away from Kushina's hair to Aki.

"You are all new to the Academy," Aki continued. "You will have many hardships to face through your career of a shinobi – many of you may not even make it past the first real mission. But the thing that keeps you going through the many battles and fallen comrades is pride. Pride for you village, and pride for yourself."

Aki glanced around the room, as if he was sizing them up. Minato slid down a little further into his seat. Their sensei clapped his hands together.

"Okay!" he said. "We will spend most of today introducing ourselves and learning the rules of the Academy. Why don't we start with you," Aki checked a list on his desk, "Mikoto?"

A girl with long dark hair stood up shakily, stumbling to the front of the room. She twisted her hands together nervously, then ran a hand through her hair. "I'm Mikoto, and…" She stared at Aki. "What else do you need to know?"

The Chuunin chuckled as he tapped his fingers against the table anxiously. "Why don't you just tell us about your family, likes or dislikes, anything you want to share."

"Well, I like dogs…I want to be a kunoichi my family would be proud of and," Mikoto blew out a breath as she turned her dark gaze to the ceiling. "I want to learn more about other lands so that I can be helpful whenever someone needs it."

Aki smiled as Mikoto walked back to her seat. He checked his list again. "Kushina?"

Kushina stood up confidently and strode to the front of the room. "My name is Kushina Uzumaki," she said. "And I'm going to be Konoha's first female Hokage!"

There was laughter from all around the room, but Minato frowned at the others. Except for Mikoto; the girl was frantically shushing the boy next to her.

"Honey," Aki said slowly. "Many people have that dream, but it's highly unlikely that you actually will become Hokage."

Kushina frowned angrily, folding her arms over her chest. "I will! And when I am, I'm going to help my homeland and forgive all of you for this day!"

She glared at the other students in the classroom before stomping back to her seat next to Minato. The blonde smiled at her reassuringly, and her flushed face slowly returned to its normal color as she smiled back at him.

"Minato?" Aki called, and Minato stood up to take Kushina's spot by the teacher.

"I'm Minato Namikaze," he said. "But I don't like to go by my last name."

Aki frowned at his new student. "Why not, Minato? Your father was a highly skilled ninja before he and your mother were killed."

Minato stared at him coolly. "I don't like it because my parents were evil beings who deserve to rot in hell."

Aki gaped at him as Minato walked back to his seat, feeling accomplished as the other stunned students twisted in their seats to stare at him.

He smirked and counted down the minutes until he could meet with Tsunade and Jiraiya and go home.

/\/\

Tsunade smiled at her son as the blonde sprinted out of the Academy with another girl being dragged behind him.

"Mom!" he called. "I made a new friend!"

"That's great, Minato," Tsunade said. "What's her name?"

"Kushina Uzumaki," the girl said, smiling at Tsunade. "I moved here from the Land of Whirlpool a few weeks ago."

Tsunade met Jiraiya's gaze and the same thought seemed to go through their minds: this girl didn't know what was truly going on in her homeland.

A/N: I am sorry for the long wait. I've been busy with my other stories, and I never realized that I hadn't updated this in forever. But we're finally moving along in the plot! Yay! But I would like some reviews…maybe the plot will come faster!


	7. Chapter 7

Tsunade sighed as Minato happily played with Kushina and Kaminari. She was so happy that Minato had made a new friend. He had always had trouble with that.

But why Kushina? Not that there was anything wrong with her, but Minato didn't know who she actually was.

Jiraiya was sipping coffee at the kitchen table. Tsunade shot a glare at him. "Seriously, Jiraiya, why are you still here?" she asked. "You haven't gotten in trouble for peeking on girls every since you met Minato."

Jiraiya glanced up at her, and her hazel eyes narrowed to slits as she studied him. "What are you up to, Jiraiya?"

"Nothing," he said way too quickly. "Nothing at all."

"I don't believe you." She turned away from as she dropped the noodles in the pot. Minato had convinced her to make ramen for dinner.

She leaned against the counter as she stared at her teammate. His white hair was a little longer now, about halfway down his back, and the red lines on his face ran down to his nose. Black eyes stared down at the book in front of him, and Tsunade cocked her head to the side. Her teammate was actually kind of cute…

She quickly pushed that thought from her head. She would not let feelings manifest, especially not after what had happened with Dan and Nawaki. She couldn't afford for that to happen.

Minato dragged Kushina into the kitchen, Kaminari barking at their heels. "Mom!" he shouted. "When's dinner going to be ready?"

"Soon, Minato," Tsunade laughed. "Have some patience for once."

Minato grumbled to himself as he pulled Kushina back out of the kitchen.

"I have a question, Minato," Kushina said slowly as they took their seat on the couch. "You don't have to answer, I'm just curious. But why do you hate your parents so much?"

"I don't hate Mom and Uncle Jiraiya," Minato frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"I meant your birth parents," Kushina corrected herself.

"Oh, them." Minato stared at the wall for so long Kushina thought he wouldn't answer. "They abused me," he finally whispered.

"What?" Kushina sat up straight.

"Yeah, they hated me," Minato nodded. "When they died, I ran away because they had never told anyone about me. Mom found me a little while later, and now I live with her and Uncle Jiraiya."

"Wow." Kushina shook her head sadly. "No wonder you said they should rot in hell."

"They should."

They were quiet for a while. "Hey, Kushina," Minato said.

"Yeah?"

"What's it like at the Land of Whirlpools?"

Kushina smiled. "Home is wonderful. There's always a lot of rain, but sea food is plenty and we always share whatever we have with friends and neighbors. I love it there."

"Why did you leave?"

"My parents sent me here without explaining why. But there have been bad storms lately, so maybe they just wanted to protect me." Kushina shrugged.

"Dinner!" Tsunade called. Minato scrambled off the couch, pulling Kushina with him.

"Ramen!" he shouted as he ran to the kitchen. Kushina laughed and followed him. She could get used to her new friend and his family.

/\/\

"Tsunade," Jiraiya said quietly as he held his teammate. "Nawaki loved you so much."

Tsunade shook her head, wiping tears from her cheeks. "I know that, Jiraiya," she hiccupped. "But he was only twelve. Twelve, Jiraiya!"

"I know, Tsunade." Jiraiya cringed as the blonde's sobs echoed through the empty house they were in.

Tsunade stared down at the crystal necklace in her hand angrily, fist clenching around it. She hissed, making no move to wipe the tears away. She raised her arm and tried to throw the necklace out the open window, but Jiraiya draped his hand over hers and shook his head.

"No, Tsunade. It's not the necklace."

"Yes it is!" she screamed. "If I had never given it to him, he would still be with me!"

"You don't believe that," Jiraiya said. "You don't want to believe that he's gone, so you're blaming it on a necklace that you gave him right before he died."

Tsunade shook her head violently, her ponytail whipping back and forth. She tried again to throw the necklace.

Jiraiya pulled her into his lap and forced her to release her death grip on the necklace. He set it aside. He let her cry until she fell asleep, and then he carried her to bed and left a glass of water next to her, leaving quietly as he pocketed the necklace. He would return it when she didn't think that it was the necklace's fault.

/\/\

"Jiraiya, it's cursed!"she screamed, fighting desperately to throw the necklace into the river. Jiraiya tightened his hold on her.

"Tsunade, it's not cursed," he whispered. "You just want to believe that so you don't have to face the truth. Dan was just unlucky; just like Nawaki."

"It's the necklace!"

"No it's not."

He pried it from her bloodless fingers, carefully setting it aside.

"People die every day, Tsunade," he said. "It's a part of shinobi life. It's why we try not to make life-long connections that can hurt us."

The only sound for a long time was Tsunade's whimpers as she shook in his arms. "Thank you," she murmured, her voice cracking.

"For what?"

"For always being there for me when I lose it."

/\/\

Tsunade fingered the necklace dangling from her neck, remembering those times. She stared at her teammate, sighing.

"Why do shinobi take the pain dished out them with death?" she asked quietly. Jiraiya glanced up at her sharply.

"What?"

"All those years ago, when Dan died," she said. "You told me that death was a part of shinobi life. Why?"

"Because being a shinobi is dangerous." Jiraiya tilted his head to the side.

"But if we're shinobi, we should be able to _help_, not destroy."

"Tsunade, you know we try our best." Jiraiya set his book down and stared at her with unreadable black eyes. "But even we can't save everyone."

"We could if we had medic-nins on the teams."

"I agree with you, Tsunade," Jiraiya sighed. "It's Sarutobi-sensei who needs to pass it. Run it by him again. Maybe he'll listen to you."

Tsunade thought about it. Then she shrugged. "Fine. I'll go tomorrow when Minato's at school."

A/N: You will not believe how long it took me to finish this. It sat in my folder for so long unfinished, it's not even funny. Anyways, I really need to know whether Jiraiya and Tsunade should be together (although I'm leaning towards that couple), and I won't really be able to continue without what you guys think. So review and tell me, because I need to know!


	8. Chapter 8

Tsunade waved once more as Minato ran off to join Kushina, and she turned to Jiraiya.

"You're coming with me," she said. He stared at her.

"What?"

"You're coming with me to Sarutobi-sensei."

"…Why?"

"Because I think he secretly likes you more than he does me."

"That's crazy."

"No it's not. I really think he likes you more."

Jiraiya sighed, waving a hand in the air dismissively. "Fine, believe what you want."

She led the way to the Hokage's office, silently wondering if this trip was even worth it. The Hokage had never followed what she said, and he probably never would. So what was the point?

"Stop thinking so much about it." Jiraiya frowned at her. "He will listen to you."

"You don't know that, Jiraiya."

"Of course I do." He smiled at her. "You're the granddaughter of the First Hokage and the grandniece of the Second Hokage. Anything you say he has to listen to."

"Then why hasn't he before?"

"Because he…just hasn't?"

"Nice try, Jiraiya," she said. "But you're grasping at straws there."

They finished the walk in silence, each lost in their own thoughts. Tsunade knocked on the door and Sarutobi called for them to come in.

"Well," he said, smiling."It's been a while, hasn't it?"

The two nodded, and then Jiraiya pushed Tsunade forward.

"Umm, Sarutobi-sensei," she coughed. "I…"

She looked helplessly to Jiraiya and he sighed. "Just tell him what you told me last night."

Sarutobi raised an eyebrow. "What on earth are you talking about?"

"Sarutobi-sensei, why don't we have medic-nins on all of our teams?" she asked quietly, forcing herself to look at her old sensei.

"Because we don't have the time and resources to train that amount of medical ninja. Why do you ask?" Sarutobi frowned.

"I was thinking about Nawaki and Dan last night," Tsunade cleared her throat hoarsely. "And a long time ago, Jiraiya told me that death was a part of a shinobi's life. I don't think it should."

Tsunade felt more sure of herself now, and she took a step closer to Sarutobi. "Why do we have to endure more pain than anybody else? Our job is to help people, and if someone dies we're supposed to be okay with that. Shinobi are people too. We can only take so much before we break."

Jiraiya encouraged her with a smile when she turned back to him.

"Tsunade," Sarutobi shook his head. "I know that as well as everybody else. But I can't stop death. It's a part of life."

"And I know that." Tsunade nodded. "But I also know that if we trained medical ninja and sent them on missions, we would have a lower percentage of death on missions."

"Tsunade, we just can't do it." Sarutobi shrugged. "We cannot spare enough ninja to train new ones."

"Fine." Tsunade shot a glare at him. "I'll do it myself. I can train them. I'm one of the best medical ninjas there are."

"You have your own missions, and Minato—"

"Jiraiya has already been helping me with Minato, and when was the last time I actually took a mission that took me out of the village?"

Sarutobi sighed and stared at her for a long time. "Tsunade, I just can't—"

"Fine then!" She threw her hands up in the air. "Increase the death rate on missions! I'll take matters into my own hands!"

She turned and grabbed Jiraiya's arm, stomping from the room.

"You know, Sarutobi-sensei won't like that," Jiraiya commented as he was dragged down the street. Tsunade shrugged.

"He deserves it."

"Tsunade, you aren't going to do what I think you're doing," Jiraiya said.

"Of course I am. Shinobi need to know this."

"You are in so much trouble," Jiraiya muttered as Tsunade set out for the Academy.

/\/\

Minato grinned at Kushina as she pushed her way through the crowd to the other side of the yard. "You know, you really didn't have to push," he said.

"After what happened yesterday? Yes, I did."

Minato shrugged and followed her as she crouched in front of Mikoto. The raven looked up at them in surprise.

"Hey, Mikoto, how would you like to be friends?" Kushina asked, smiling. Mikoto stared for a second then smiled.

"Sure, why not?"

Kushina grinned deviously, then stood up and extended her hand to the girl on the ground. "Come on, then, it's time for us to get to know each other better."

They took a few steps back to the Academy door, and Minato was about to follow when he noticed something. He caught up to the girls and said, "I'll meet you there," before running over to the gates.

"Mom! Uncle Jiraiya!" he shouted. "What are you doing here?"

Tsunade smiled down at him. "Can't we visit you while you're at school?"

"Yes, but you said you had something to do today." Minato frowned. "So you shouldn't be here right now."

"Oh, we finished that." Tsunade waved her hand dismissively. "We're working our way down the list."

"Umm…okay?"

"Minato, can you take us to your teacher?" Jiraiya asked, gripping Tsunade's wrist tightly. Minato stared at his mother for a second, wondering what she had done to make Jiraiya act like this, before he nodded.

He led them through the crowd of students to the door, where he walked inside and pushed open the door to his classroom.

"Aki-sensei should be in here." He waved them inside. Tsunade smiled at him.

"Thank you, Minato. Now it's time to set my plan into motion."

Minato frowned before shoving his apprehension away. "Sure, I'm going to meet up with Kushina and Mikoto now."

He jogged away before they could argue.

/\/\

"Aki, I have known you for almost your entire life." Tsunade leaned forward, her mouth twisted into a gruesome smile. "I healed you on your failed mission. The least you can do is help me get an appointment with the person in charge here."

"T-Tsunade-san, I am not the best person—"

"_Get me an appointment_."

Aki shuddered and nodded, scrambling out of the classroom. Jiraiya stared at his teammate.

"Was scaring him that badly really necessary?"

"Of course." Tsunade shrugged.

Jiraiya sighed. With Tsunade, of course making other shinobi nearly wet their pants was necessary.

A/N: I have been so lazy lately…I apologize for the late chapter. I've been busy watching pointless TV and being pissed at everything… at least I was able to blow off some steam through Tsunade; without her I would have not written this chapter. So review?


	9. Chapter 9

Tsunade grinned to herself as she planted her palms down on the sturdy desk in front of her. She leaned close to the kunoichi in charge of the Academy.

"Listen, Kazuko, I need a favor," she said as she shifted most of her weight onto her hands. "And you can help me with it."

"Ma'am, I-I can't help you bring up your child's grade." Kazuko was nearly shaking in fear as the younger blonde glared at her with a vicious smile.

"Oh, no, that's not what I need."

Behind Tsunade, Jiraiya sighed as he stepped forward to make sure his teammate wouldn't do anything she would regret later.

"What I need is a job here teaching medical jutsu."

Poor Kazuko, the woman nearly passed out.

/\/\

Minato frowned as he stared at his sensei. Aki was acting strange, his eyes shifting from side to side nervously, coughing, shaking. Minato had a feeling he knew what it was that was bothering his teacher.

"What did Mom do to Aki-sensei?" he wondered quietly. Kushina glanced at him from her seat next to him.

"What?" she hissed, her mouth barely moving so they wouldn't get caught talking during class. Minato shook his head and pulled a piece of paper in front of him, writing quickly.

_Aki-sensei is acting strange, like my Uncle Jiraiya does when Mom yells at him, _he scribbled. He pushed the paper to the side so Kushina could read it. She picked up his pen and wrote something down.

_What do you think your mom did to him? _Minato shook his head bewilderedly.

_Knowing Mom it could be anything._

Minato sighed and stared at the back of Mikoto's head as his new friend gazed at the black board, her hand absently moving as she copied down notes with an air of boredom surrounding her.

He turned his attention back to Aki and started when he realized that his sensei wasn't even speaking anymore, just staring at the wall. The blonde's eyes scanned the room to see if anyone else was going to make sure Aki was actually alive.

"Aki-sensei?" he asked when no one else did. Aki jumped and turned to him, reassuring Minato that he was alive.

"Yes, Minato?"

"Are you okay?"

"Of course," Aki said, waving a hand in the air. "Why wouldn't I be? It's not like a woman came in during lunch and threatened me, or anything."

Minato arched an eyebrow and turned his head to look at Kushina. The redhead grinned at him and raised her hands in defeat.

"Did this woman happen to be my mom?"

"What in the world are you talking about, Minato? Your mom did not threaten me, no siree, not at all!" Aki smiled shakily, forcing his trembling hands into his pockets. "You can go home early today! Class dismissed!"

There were shouts of glee as the students pushed their way past each other and out the door. Minato stood up and joined Kushina and Mikoto as they left the building.

"I wonder what Mom wanted from Aki-sensei," Minato wondered aloud as they waited for Tsunade and Jiraiya to appear and take them back home. Mikoto shrugged.

"I don't really know your mother that well, so I can't answer that question. Can you think of anything she might get from going to the Academy that she couldn't get from the Hokage?"

Minato's eyes widened and his breath left him in one long exhale. He grabbed his friends' wrists and dragged them back to the school, into the office.

He sprinted past the secretary and burst into the room where he could see Jiraiya through the glass window.

"Mom, do not do it!"

Tsunade looked up at him in surprise, tipping her head to the side. "Whatever do you mean, Minato?"

"Do not get a job here."

"Why would you think that?"

"Because I know you!"

Tsunade laughed softly, her hand relaxing around the pen. "Minato, you know as well as I do that the Academy needs this. I just happen to the best candidate for it."

Minato couldn't argue with that logic, and he dropped Kushina and Mikoto's wrists to grip Jiraiya's sleeve.

"Uncle Jiraiya, please tell me that you at least tried to stop Mom."

"Of course I tried."

"Good." Minato stepped back with a sigh. "'Kay. Do whatever you want."

Tsunade grinned and dropped the pen. "Already did, honey. I officially work at the Academy as the new medical ninja teacher."

Kazuko stood up and shook hands with the tall blonde, already regretting her decision. "Good luck, Tsunade-san."

"Yep, see you later."

Tsunade walked out of the room, calling over her shoulder, "Minato, honey, what do you want for dinner?"

/\/\

Minato sighed as he walked with Mikoto and Kushina back home. He had told them that when Tsunade was in a good mood she usually made ramen. They had readily agreed to stay for dinner, then they made a short stop to call Mikoto's parents and tell them where she was. They were not happy about it, but they couldn't argue when Minato told them that his mother was Tsunade.

Jiraiya had briefly paused before he had left the school to tell them to walk home alone; he had to find Tsunade and make sure that teaching was really what she wanted.

So Minato was struggling to remember the way home, while Kushina and Mikoto laughed next to him. Whenever he had walked home he had always been with Tsunade or Jiraiya; he had never needed to know the way home. Now he was thankful that he could remember a few landmarks and kind citizens were able to subtly point him home.

Tsunade was humming to herself in the kitchen when they finally arrived, and Minato grinned when he smelled ramen. His mom was the best.

"We're home!" he called, and Jiraiya jerked his head towards the kitchen unnecessarily.

"Hey, Mom," the blonde said as he slipped into a chair in the kitchen. Tsunade smiled at him and placed a bowl in front of him, gesturing for Mikoto and Kushina to sit next to him.

"Jiraiya!"

Jiraiya stumbled into the room in shock, shaking his head. "God, no need to yell, woman. I'm right in the next room."

Minato shook his head. His mom and uncle Jiraiya were like a married couple, and secretly he thought that they would be perfect for each other. Not that they would ever get together.

At least, not unless he did something about it.

A/N: I love little Minato! He's so cute! Anyways, I think you should review. I'm happy that I even finished this chapter. It was SO hard to finish, it's not even funny. But I had some time, and figured that I should do it. I had nothing better to do.


	10. Chapter 10

Minato groaned to himself and wondered why he had agreed to doing this. Kushina grinned across from him, fully enjoying his pain.

"Why, Kushina? Why do you hate me?" he muttered. The redhead ignored him.

Kushina had decided that Minato had needed a new favorite food. She had taken it upon herself to bring him to the apartment the Hokage had given her and cook him dinner twice a week. So far nothing had replaced his ramen, and Minato had realized just how bad Kushina was at cooking.

"Please, can I have some ramen?" he asked desperately. Kushina shook her head.

"No. Ramen is unhealthy, and with your mother being a medical ninja I thought you would realize that. You need to eat healthier."

"But Mom doesn't care!"

"I care!"

Minato dropped his head onto the table with a whine. He was never going to get his way.

/\/\

The day Tsunade started teaching was one of the strangest days of Minato's life. One, Tsunade actually made _ramen_ for breakfast, which only happened on Minato's birthday. It was not his birthday.

Second, Jiraiya was up before he went to school—also strange. The white-haired man only woke up after the clock struck ten; never before. Why he woke up early today, Minato would probably never know.

Third, Kaminari was nowhere to be seen. She was either hiding somewhere, or Tsunade had already let her out; Minato thought that the former was more likely.

And finally, Tsunade let Minato walk out the door with his pajamas still on, and only noticed when he tripped on his long pants and nearly fell.

All in all, Minato was freaked out. He didn't know what was going to happen at school, but truthfully, he didn't know if he wanted to know. Sometimes, it was just better not to question anything and move along as if nothing had happened.

And that was exactly what he did. Tsunade would only be teaching the older students medical ninjutsu; the younger kids were too inexperienced for the basics of it, so Minato wouldn't see his mother until the end of the day.

So Minato happily floated through his day, talking to Kushina and Mikoto, taking notes during class, and trying to forget the fact that his mother was teaching a class just down the hall. Without the Hokage's permission.

By the time Aki released his class, Minato had completely forgotten that he was supposed to meet Tsunade at the gates and nearly walked home alone.

Kushina grabbed the back of his shirt and shook her head. "Minato, you need to meet your mom, remember?"

He stared at her blankly before he remembered. "Oh, yeah! I completely forgot. Thanks, Kushina."

She smiled. "No problem. Just remember that next time."

"Yeah, yeah, see you later," he said as he walked back to the gates. He got there minutes before his mother showed up.

"Oh, there you are, Minato," Tsunade said. "For a moment I thought you forgot."

"Of course I didn't!" Minato said, coughing. "I would never forget that."

Tsunade shook her head, dropping her hand to his shoulder. "Sure, Minato."

A/N: I am so sorry! I have not written at all this summer, and this chapter is short, but I needed to write something so I could tell you what's going on. The last chapter I had written before school ended, but for some reason I didn't put it up. Don't know why, but now you're caught up with me. This is just a really short chapter so that I can start moving along in the plot, plus I probably won't have anything up for a while after this. Saturday I'm going to New York until Tuesday, I think, and then Wednesday I'm going to my friend's house until Friday. July 2nd I'm going back home, so basically, I've got a lot going on.

I'm really sorry about the short chapter. But it's late and I just felt really bad about not writing anything lately—I'm trying, I really am! I swear it! Anyways, please review, and I promise I will try to write on car rides and whatnot. Hopefully I can finish this story by the end of summer.


	11. Chapter 11

The darkness crept in through the thin curtains despite Minato's best efforts to block it out. Minato sat in his bed, staring out the window. He was worried.

Well, not really. Just….thinking about the consequences of his mother's actions. Doing something without the Hokage's permission, especially something that could endanger the lives of future shinobi…it just didn't happen.

Today would be Tsunade's second day of teaching. Minato wondered how long it would be before the Hokage noticed something was going at the Academy.

Glancing outside, Minato knew he shouldn't be up yet. But he had been so hyped up last night from the fear that Tsunade would get caught that he didn't get much sleep.

And now he sat in his bed wide awake long after he should have fallen asleep. Tsunade and Jiraiya would kill him if they knew.

There was nothing he could do to solve this problem. If the Hokage and the Elders deemed it necessary, they could throw Tsunade and Jiraiya both in jail, or exile them, or worse. Minato would be orphaned for a second time.

He doubted that the Hokage wouldn't make sure that he was taken care of, but it wouldn't be the same. Casting his mind back to the day Tsunade had found him and the kindness she had shown, Minato knew that he wouldn't be so lucky again. The only people who would take him in would be those the Hokage ordered to, and even then they wouldn't love him like Tsunade and Jiraiya.

Minato couldn't turn them in.

And he couldn't reason with his mother.

But what else was there?

Maybe if he tried to explain his reasons, she would understand. She may take into consideration. Because even though Tsunade wasn't Minato's birth mother, he knew she loved him – more than his real mother had.

/\/\

Jiraiya studied his teammate over a cup of tea.

"Tsunade," he started warily. She snapped her head up to stare at him.

_"What?"_

"Are you – have you thought through all the consequences of what you're doing?"

Tsunade frowned at him. "Of course."

"Did you think about Minato?"

For a long moment there was silence. She finally turned her gaze down at the table.

"No…I guess it slipped my mind," she admitted softly.

"You realize that we could lose him." Jiraiya kept his eyes on his teammate, setting his tea down untouched.

Her grip on the table tightened until her fingers were white. "I need to fix this," she breathed.

Jiraiya laid a hand on her icy fingers, gently prying them from the wood. "I hope for his sake you know what you're doing."

He rubbed his thumb along the back of her hand until she relaxed.

"What am I supposed to do?" Tsunade whispered. "I can't lose him. And he wouldn't handle losing his parents a second time."

"Go to Sarutobi-sensei," Jiraiya suggested quietly. "He'll understand that you were just doing what you thought was right."

"And tell him that I purposely disobeyed his orders? Yes, because that is definitely what I want to do," Tsunade muttered. Her hand tightened around his just slightly.

"What else is there?" Jiraiya said. "You can't just go and quit after all the threats you gave. They would find it strange."

"It looks like that's the only way to do it." She sighed. "It's the only way to make sure Minato stays here."

Kaminari whined at Tsunade's feet. The blonde stared down at her for a long moment before it clicked.

"Okay, Kaminari, I'll take you out," she said. She stood up. "Come on." Before Jiraiya could stop her, his teammate had left.

He glanced outside the window to see the rising sun. Figuring it was time for Minato to get up, he dumped out his cold tea and made his way down the hall.

But Minato was already sitting up in bed when Jiraiya got there. His bright blue eyes were wet with unshed tears. Jiraiya frowned and hurried forward to sit on the edge of the bed.

"Minato," he said desperately. "What's wrong?"

The small blonde wiped his eyes. "Nothing," he choked out. "I'm fine."

"Minato." Jiraiya's voice was firm. "You are crying. Clearly you are not fine. Now, what's wrong?"

Minato hiccupped, but otherwise he was quiet for a moment. "What's going to happen to me if Mommy gets in trouble?" He sniffled miserably.

"Oh, Minato," Jiraiya sighed. "Come here, kiddo," he said, opening his arms. Minato crawled into his lap and curled up into a tiny ball. "Nothing will happen to you."

"I heard you and Mommy talking last night. About how she went against the Hokage." Minato buried his head in Jiraiya's chest. "Aki-sensei told us about people that were killed because they disobeyed the Hokage."

Jiraiya's hold on Minato tightened. "I promise, Minato, nothing will happen to you. Both your mother and I love you, and nothing will stop that."

A sob tore from Minato's throat, and suddenly the dam broke and he was crying into Jiraiya's chest, loud, wet tears that stained the fabric.

It was a long time before Minato could breathe normally again, and even longer before he finally fell asleep. Jiraiya carefully tucked him into bed and pulled the curtains over the window to block the sun. Then he crept from the room and back to the kitchen.

Tsunade was there, shaking, her hands clenched into fists. Jiraiya closed his eyes and stepped forward, wrapping his arms around her and lifting her up. He carried her to her bedroom, setting her down in the middle of the bed.

"Stay here," he commanded softly. "I'm going to make you some tea and then we're going to have nice long talk."

He waited for a few seconds to make sure she would be okay then slowly walked back to the kitchen.

Leaning against the fridge waiting for the water to boil, Jiraiya honestly couldn't believe this was his life. He used to be the troublemaker, the one you could depend on to bring a smile to your face. He wasn't the kind to settle down and have a family. He liked to think of himself as a free spirit.

But this was his family. Minato was his kid, even if legally and by blood he wasn't. It had been nearly three years since he had last left the village, a new record since the last mission he had had with Tsunade. And if had hadn't left yet, he wouldn't leave for a long time.

Jiraiya finished making the Tsunade's tea and walked back to her room. In the time she had been alone she had rolled onto her side, curled around a pillow.

He placed the tea on the bedside table. His hand, now fee, reached out for his friend and touched her shoulder.

"Tsunade, I know you don't feel well right now, but you have to sit up," Jiraiya pleaded. "Drink some tea. We need to talk about this."

"What is there to talk about?" she muttered. But she obeyed, sitting up and sipping the hot tea.

"Feel better?" Jiraiya asked. Tsunade felt well enough to glare at him. "There's the Tsunade I know."

"What are we going to do?" she said. "I can't quit, and I can't go to Sarutobi-sensei. But I can't risk losing Minato.

She moaned and dropped her head in her hands. "Why didn't I think of him in the first place? None of this would have happened."

"It's okay, Tsunade." Jiraiya draped an arm over her shoulders. "We'll figure something out."

Tsunade sank into his embrace, curling into him as easy as if belonged there. Before she fell asleep, she murmured, "No matter what, promise that you'll always be there for Minato."

"I promise," he whispered. She fell asleep with a small smile on her face, reassured that her son would be safe with Jiraiya.

A/N: There is absolutely no excuse as to why I haven't updating anything in forever. I was lazy. That's it. I have a plan now, and I want to be able to finish some of these stories before the end of they year. Help motivate me by sending me PMs or reviews, anything really. PLease?


	12. Chapter 12

Okay, I am so sorry I haven't updated in so long. I know I promised I would, but I just lost the motivation. I've lost the motivation to do everything. Some mornings I wake up and I just wonder if there's any point to it. I've just been going through so much shit the past couple months with my friends and family, and I could have been spending so much time writing and didn't.

I've decided that I'm just going on a break. I can't handle the guilt I feel because I haven't updated but I don't want to force something out that won't be as good as it could be.

This hiatus shouldn't be too long - school is ending soon but I am also being shipped off to my grandparent's the day after school ends and God-knows where else. I'll try - I swear to God, I will try - to write, but I can't make any promises. Until I get through all this crap, I can't make any promises.

I am so sorry for getting your hopes up a new chapter. I hate myself for this, but I just couldn't handle this anymore. I'm sorry.


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